February 1, 2020
Greetings! Here’s a roundup of the latest from the MIT community.
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Biorobotic Heart
Engineers have developed a bionic “heart” — made of biological tissue and a robotic pumping system — that beats like the real thing. The device offers a more realistic model for testing artificial heart valves and other cardiac devices.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Top Headlines
Finding solutions amidst fractal uncertainty and quantum chaos
Math professor Semyon Dyatlov explores the relationship between classical and quantum physics.
MIT Heat Island
Researchers hope to make needle pricks for diabetics a thing of the past
A new study suggests noninvasive spectroscopy could be used to monitor blood glucose levels.
MIT Heat Island
Surveying the quality of life at MIT
A new survey of MIT students, faculty, and staff will inform initiatives to improve the work-life experience on campus and at Lincoln Laboratory.
MIT Heat Island
Demystifying artificial intelligence
Doctoral candidate Natalie Lao wants to show that anyone can learn to use AI to make a better world.
MIT Heat Island
For cheaper solar cells, thinner really is better
Solar panel costs have dropped lately, but slimming down silicon wafers could lead to even lower costs and faster industry expansion.
MIT Heat Island
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
#ThisisMIT
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In the Media
Is it okay to sacrifice one person to save many? How you answer depends on where you’re from // Vox
A study by MIT researchers examines how culture influences moral decision-making.
Bias in biotech funding has blocked companies led by women // The Washington Post
President Emerita Susan Hockfield, Professor Sangeeta Bhatia, and Professor Emerita Nancy Hopkins have convened a working group aimed at increasing the number of biotech startups with female founders.
All the books Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talked about at Davos // Quartz
At the World Economic Forum, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called “The Narrow Corridor” by Professor Daron Acemoglu “fantastic,” adding that it examines “the real, constant tension between what does a society want and … what does the government want.”
She’s the next president. Wait, did you read that right? // The New York Times
A study by MIT researchers finds that in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Americans were reluctant to use the word “she” to describe a hypothetical president.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“
The rate of resistance is far outpacing our ability to discover new antibiotics. I’m beginning to see patients [and] I have to tell them, I’m sorry, we have no antibiotics left.
—Deborah Hung, co-director of the Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in a recent talk on new strategies to combat antibiotic resistance
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Scene at MIT
For comparison with the LEGO version, here’s another look at MIT’s iconic dome in winter. In designing the dome, architect and alumnus William Welles Bosworth was inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s adaptation at the University of Virginia of the ancient Roman Pantheon. Today, the Great Dome is perhaps the most recognizable symbol of the Institute. Photo: Can Pu/Flickr CC BY-NC-SA
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Watch This
As the world moves toward cleaner and sustainable sources of energy, Associate Professor Fikile Brushett and his colleagues are trying to push the frontiers of electrochemical technology. A new video describes how Brushett is helping to transform every stage of the energy pipeline, from unlocking the potential of solar and wind energy to replacing combustion engines with fuel cells to enabling greener industrial processes.
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